Grand List of Emulsions, exposure times and opinions/details!

[Gilligan]

Tisk tisk you guys.

Just looking at making an order from a shop because they have reasonable shipping on the AWT Coater and I figured I'd flesh out the order to stretch my shipping dollar.

They have this Kiwo emulsion I hear a lot about... so I go to the google docs "database" to see which "model" everyone likes and what do I see.

NOTHING... no one has added to it and there is no one talking about the Kiwo on it.

This seemed like such a great idea that would have served so many in the community and it now looks like a complete failure.

Thanks for all those that contributed to it... it started off on fire, just fizzled out quickly.

[jsheridan]

Just because I use this brand, coat this way on those kind of screens and use that kind of exposure for those amounts of light units..

Does not mean you will get the same results so please, use what you like and test test test then test some more until your combination of techniques results in the best possible outcome your shop can achieve.

Then document what you did and put it in the shop procedure manual. That way you can measure in the future and show the new guy exactly how you want it done.

[alan802]

Speaking of emulsion, I have not contributed to the list at all because I basically saw it one day and then forgot all about it.  I have a ton of info I can add to it, just haven't done it.  I'll get to it one day soon.

I just found something on one of my supplier's website as a monthly special, Kiwo One Coat, 5 gallon bucket for $197!!!  That's a hell of a deal and I just jumped on it.  I called and the guy on the phone said they hadn't changed the price in their system but they would honor the 197 on the front page of the website, but he acted like that might have been a typo so if anyone wants that price, they better take advantage of it today, before they change it.  That seems really cheap for that emulsion.  I guess I should start a thread on this.

[Gilligan]

Just because I use this brand, coat this way on those kind of screens and use that kind of exposure for those amounts of light units..

Does not mean you will get the same results so please, use what you like and test test test then test some more until your combination of techniques results in the best possible outcome your shop can achieve.

Then document what you did and put it in the shop procedure manual. That way you can measure in the future and show the new guy exactly how you want it done.

Well... sure, that does WORK.

BUT.  If say Alan does his data dump on the page and talks about how he coats Chromaline Blue this way and it takes about 30 seconds for him to burn a screen coated 3:1 blah blah blah.  Then later in his data dump he talks about some other stuff that he coated the same way and it burned in the same time frame on the same 3:1 well then I know I could start in the same place to start my testing.  OR if I'm looking for something that burns faster and I see X burned twice as fast for him as Y did and I use Y well then I know X would probably be twice as fast as Y for me as well.

As long as the people putting in their data have a fairly consistent technique/standard for coating their screens then those that have tried lots of different emulsions can really contribute to this thread.

THEN, even those that haven't used that many can also give some expansion on it because say another guy has only used two different types.  Well, if he used X emulsion and then he used Z emulsion, well now I can transpose that data and look at for Alan's use of that emulsion he got 1.5 minutes and this other guy had 5 mins but for the Z emulsion he got 3 mins well then knowing that Alan got 1.5 I can imagine what Alan would get using Z emulsion even if he never used it before.

All of this data will be useful for those that want to use it.

For those that want to just kick it around and dog it out... have fun... but easier if you just pretended no one was talking to you about it.  Let us nerds play.

I'd venture to say that if we had 5 major players put their observations/data dumps in here we could really start getting some usable data that could save some of use a good bit of money and time (= money) when looking for that "something else".

[Gilligan]

Hey does anyone have any information on using a 3140 (old four leg style if it matters) with Chromaline Chromablue (PP)... like how many light units they use?

I'm about to start experimenting with my 3140 finally and I'd like to have a decent starting point as to not waist time/emulsion totally guessing.

[Frog]

Have you ever used this exposure unit?

What emulsion?

Have you ever used any photopolymer emulsion?

Do you have an exposure calculator?

[alan802]

Damnit, I still haven't contributed to the list...maybe tonight I can get to it.

[Gilligan]

Have you ever used this exposure unit?

What emulsion?

Have you ever used any photopolymer emulsion?

Do you have an exposure calculator?

Keep Step Wedge Man in check Andy. No, I haven't used this exposure unit at all yet... this is why I'd like to get a starting reference point.

I do have a step wedge PDF that I'll be printing out with my new setup and I will be doing said test.  I just want a starting point.  I don't know if I need 10 light units or 100 light units to even START to get some cross linking going.

I currently use the emulsion that I am asking about (Chromaline ChromaBlue, as stated.  I'm only changing ONE variable at a time here.

[Denis Kolar]

Light units should be the same on all exposure units. How much time needed to get to the specific number of unit should be what changes from one to another.
I needed around 17-18 light units for ChromaBlue on my 40-1K exposure unit on 110 mesh. PC701 emulsion needs around 15 units.

Hope that helps

[Gilligan]

Not true.

Light Units can be calibrated in some systems and on my older 3140 you can tilt the sensor up and down so it will read more or less light as a way of "calibrating" your light units.

Alan's unit for example uses only like 10 light units or something ridiculously small like that to expose a screen.  I'm sure it has something to do with the much larger bulb but I'd also venture to say that maybe that setup was designed for things that typically need longer exposure times (more units).

So even from a 40-1k to a 3140... or even an older 3140 to a newer 3140 they will be different.  How much?  I don't know.  That is why I specified that I had an older 3140.  I'd LIKE info from a user of an older unit.  But any 3140 info would be at least A starting point.

[Gilligan]

Calling all 3140's.  Anyone?

[Gilligan]

Late night bump for the insomniacs!

[Denis Kolar]

1" measured with one tape measure should be same as measured with your tape measure.

Light unit is a measuring unit, and should be the same.

I said SHOULD. Which light units they use I do not know, but two screens with the same emulsion and same EOM should be exposed with the same amount of Light units on any exposure unit. The only think that should change is the time because of the units power (UV strength).

[Gilligan]

Maybe some are done in "metric" light units.

[bimmridder]

On my system, when it is calibrated or recalibrated, I set it so one light unit equals one second. I use a photocell and integrator. As the bulb ages, a light unit will take longer in real time. An exposure that was 36 light units took 36 seconds with a new bulb. After six months, the time to do 36 light units might now be 44 seconds. The units stay the same, but the time increases. This is also a way I decide when to replace the bulb